He ran into a small village that seemed to have been abandoned for a long time, with the Foundation staff chasing after him. It was getting dark, and he had no strength left.

He rushed into a nearby old house, grabbed a white sheet that was neatly folded on a dilapidated wooden table, lay down with his back against a corner of the wall, tore the sheet off and wrapped it around himself to stop the bleeding.

"Dépêchez-vous! Dépêchez-vous! (Hurry!) Look over there! He can't escape!" [Staff]

A small village that had been abandoned for a long time in the suburbs of Paris was now bustling again, but this bustle wasn't very cheerful.

The Foundation staff had tracked Anatole all the way here. Sure enough, he was hiding in a dilapidated house in that village.

The old white cloth he had found was the only thing that had stopped the bleeding. The wound was still very painful but he did not dare to scream.

Those employees looked like ferocious wolves, they were searching everywhere to detect the scent of blood of their prey, Calliandra's ferocious pack would not spare any prey.

Anatole knew very well what would happen to him when they caught him, a humane death. Very quick and without a word of mercy. These things gradually weighed on him until he was suffocated as they gradually searched the last small house. Thinking that he could not survive much longer, he pulled out his sword...

Amidst the pack of ferocious wolves, the little lamb appeared leisurely, and it immediately spoke.

"Who are you guys?" [???]

A priest in his late thirties, dressed simply, unarmed. He faced the armed men, not showing any fear, he calmly asked the staff. Those with murderous gazes all turned their eyes towards him. His appearance also raised many questions for the staff because in this remote place, a priest appeared.

However, they still came to ask.

"Father, did you see a wounded man, about 1.70 meters tall, passing by here?" [Staff]

"Are you looking for such a person? Well, I didn't see anyone like that either, I was here a few hours ago and didn't see anyone either." [???]

The priest added.

"Also, if you guys are looking for someone who is running away, no one will run here. This village has been abandoned for a long time and there is nothing around here, so I often come here to dismantle pieces of old houses to repair the church roof. As for the rest, no one will come looking for them. I think the guy you guys are looking for also escaped to the forest. If he is injured, he will just hang around here and die." [???]

Hearing what their father said made sense, they didn't stay any longer because they knew that if they stopped here, Anatole wouldn't be able to survive. They immediately packed up and prepared to leave the village.

"Anyway, arrest him, if he's injured, then treat him first!" [???]

One of the group laughed and replied, that smile didn't seem to have any sympathy at all.

"We'll treat him properly, don't worry..."

[Staff]

Then the others laughed along, and they gradually disappeared from the village. Those ferocious predators had left, leaving only one...no, two strangers there.

The priest watched the others leave and could only smile wryly, he lit the oil lamp and slowly walked towards the old house. The sound of panting became clearer. As he reached the door, he spoke.

"Put down your weapon, they've left." [???]

Anatole inside had already sheathed his sword, a moment later the priest entered and faced him.

"I really thank you, Father, I have nothing to repay you." [Anatole]

"Let's talk about that later, you're injured, let me help you up and then go to my church, I'll help you treat your wound." [???]

After saying that, the priest put his arm around his shoulder and pulled him up.

They didn't say a word to each other on the way. The priest took him deep into the village and then crossed a small bridge over a branch of the Seine.

A small church gradually appeared before his eyes, so there was a church hidden deep in the forest? It looked quite old compared to the current era, probably from a long time ago.

The priest gently placed him on a chair, he turned his head inside and spoke loudly.

"Children! Get me the first aid kit, someone is injured!" [???]

A girl around 16 years old stepped out, she was a bit surprised by his wound, then went closer to examine it carefully. Meanwhile, a few other younger children also came out, one of them brought a first aid kit and gave it to the priest.

He carefully removed the white cloth from the wound, then took a towel and poured some alcohol on it, wiping around the wound.

"Oh my god, this is a gunshot wound, why would they want to kill you?!" [???]

"It's a long story, Father..." [Anatole]

"Okay, I guess you can take pain quite well..." [???]

The priest took a small pair of tweezers, inserted it into the wound and caught something hard like metal, he gently pulled it out.

A rifle bullet, if that were the case, its destructive power would have been enough to penetrate this guy's entire body, but it was still retained at a rather shallow depth as if it was not even as good as a pistol bullet.

After finishing, the priest bandaged the wound more properly for him.

"Thank you very much." [Anatole]

"When you see someone in trouble, you have to help them, I cannot ignore it." [???]

The priest continued.

"So what did you do that made them chase you?" [???]

At first, he was still hesitant and wary of this stranger, but he knew very well that his feelings were completely sincere, this person was willing to help anyone regardless of who they were, maybe this was a good person, maybe even better.

He told him everything. After listening, the priest just nodded and said.

"Well, you really risked your life, if I hadn't been there today, I don't know if you would have survived. I feel sorry for your comrades, may their souls rest in peace." [???]

The priest asked again.

"So you really don't know why you survived that incident?" [???]

"Everything happened so suddenly, I didn't even know what happened at the time." [Anatole]

"There are so many miracles in this world, it's hard to understand them all. Well, it's fine as long as you're okay." [???]

"Oh, I forgot to introduce myself, I'm..." [Anatole]

"No need." [???]

"Why?" [Anatole]

The kind priest suddenly became serious, he looked at him.

"If we were to be caught, I wouldn't know your name to tell them, right? I think you should keep your identity a secret." [???]

He was right, if he were to give his real name, it would easily affect others and even himself, he hadn't anticipated this, fortunately there was that priest.

"Alright, then I think it's your turn to introduce me. If anything happens in the future, I'll repay you..." [Anatole]

"I'm just a priest raising a bunch of children, just call me by my Christian name, Nicholas." [Nicholas]

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Note: This person's original name is 'Nicolas' (Saint Nicholas's name in French). This is also an OC created by @procooler5 and @stymenace on the Reverse: 1999 Discord server. And of course this is an unofficial collab as well as the events in here are related to this person. And this character does not have a specific lore given by the author so I can still create, as long as I publicly disclose it with the author's name.

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"Alright Father Nicholas, then everything I just said is that complicated, I don't want to involve you so I'll take my leave..." [Anatole]

Father took his hand.

"Calm down, I know your injury isn't that serious, but I guess they're still hunting you down right now, if you show up now, they'll be able to find you sooner than you think." [Nicholas]

Anatole wondered.

"How do you know?" [Anatole]

"I know the St. Pavlov Foundation is a big organization, you also understand that their potential is not trivial at all, you were once their person so you should understand that better than me, right?" [Nicholas]

Anatole sighed.

"Yes, you're right, I can't act hastily..." [Anatole]

"So you stay here for a few days? When they loosen up, come out, I'll arrange a decent place for you, even if it's a bit cramped." [Nicholas]

"It's okay, Father, I'm easy-going, I can handle both happiness and suffering." [Anatole]

"Yes, that's good." [Nicholas]

The priest was about to leave to take care of the children when he suddenly asked.

"I have something to ask, can you please answer me now?" [Anatole]

"What do you want to ask?" [Nicholas]

"Why weren't you afraid that they would find me out and you would be implicated when you first saw me hiding?" [Anatole]

The priest smiled kindly at him.

"If I was afraid, I wouldn't have helped you, young man." [Nicholas]

"Are you as reckless as I am?" [Anatole]